` November 29, 2020 “Christ the King” Scripture: Micah 5:2, Luke 1:32-33, Mark 1:14-15, Matthew 16:15-16, Revelation 19:16 God’s anointed king was born MONDAY 11.30.20 Matthew 1:16; 2:1-6; Micah 5:2-4 “Christ” was a title, not a personal name. The Greek word “christos” meant “anointed one,” the same meaning as the Hebrew word “mashiach,” or “Messiah.” Matthew called Jesus “the Christ”—that is, the anointed king. Israel loved the hope of God sending a ruler born in Bethlehem. The “chief priests and legal experts” knew Micah 5 when King Herod asked them. But it was the foreign magi who spoke of the infant as Israel‘s ultimate king. • Matthew used the Greek word "magoi" (English “magi”) to describe the visitors from the East. Picture the scene in your mind's eye: these wise men, often honored and respected themselves, honored the young child Jesus and named him “king.” What did this say about their hopes for who Jesus was and would become? What do you hope Jesus, the king, will do in your life? • The Magi didn’t say, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We have come to make a treaty with him,” or “We have come to attend one of his meetings.” Scholar William Barclay noted that the magi had “the reaction of adoring worship, the desire to lay at the feet of Jesus Christ the noblest gifts they could bring.” * As you plan for Christmas, how will you honor Jesus’ birth through “adoring worship,” especially in this unusual year? Prayer: King Jesus, when you were born and the magi sought you as a newborn king, paranoid King Herod took them more seriously than the religious experts. As I enter this Advent season, guide me to grasp the importance of your coming to earth as my king. Amen. * William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew—Volume 1 Chapters 1–10 (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976, p. 30. Anointing: how kings became kings TUESDAY 12.1.20 1 Samuel 10:1, 16:10-13 To our minds, “anointing” may have an exotic, ancient ring. But it was real and taken very seriously in Israel. Pastor Hamilton wrote, “Israel’s kings would be anointed by their prophets and priests. Like the priests and altar furnishings, the anointing of the king happened at God’s direction and on God’s behalf. It signified that the king was holy to God, set apart for God’s purposes, ruling on behalf of God, representing God, and doing God’s work.” * • David, himself anointed to be king, showed great respect for God’s anointing on his predecessor (and enemy) King Saul. Given a chance to kill Saul (when Saul was seeking to kill him), he refused on the grounds that it would be wrong to lift his hand against “the LORD’s anointed” (cf. 1 Samuel 24:4-10). What insight does that give you into how significant a king’s anointing was? • Sometimes we use important words so often that they are “worn smooth.” They glide through our minds without their real meaning registering. It’s important at Advent to understand the words “Messiah” (Hebrew mashiach, anointed one) and “Christ” (the Greek equivalent of Messiah). They aren’t abstract religious words—they say Jesus was THE king. How can that deepen your sense of the world-changing impact of the “Christ” child born at Christmas? Prayer: Lord Jesus, no human hand carried a vial of oil when you were born. But you arrived already anointed by the hand of God—and wise people promptly began recognizing your kingship. Amen. * Adam Hamilton. Incarnation: Rediscovering the Significance of Christmas (Kindle Locations 144-146). Abingdon. Kindle Edition. The sweeping divine promise to David WEDNESDAY 12.2.20 2 Samuel 7:8, 12-16, Isaiah 9:6-7 The prophet Nathan proclaimed God’s covenant promise to Israel’s King David. David’s son, King Solomon also received the promise (cf. 1 Kings 9:3-5). Descendants of David were kings for roughly 400 years, though too many of them were David’s physical but not spiritual heirs. Though that history showed no human king could fully live up to God’s sweeping promise, Isaiah before Israel’s exile (and Ezekiel exiled in Babylon—cf. Ezekiel 34:23-24) sustained the hope that God would fulfill the promise. • Many empires and cultures (ancient Egypt and Rome, as well as many later European nations) claimed that their kings were divine. But Nathan’s message to King David gave God the glory, not David (verse 8). (Ancient Israel didn’t see shepherds as people of high status.) How did “I took you from the pasture” show that the promise depended on David’s faithfulness to God’s covenant? • Nathan and Isaiah thought of Israel as an earthly nation. Scholar John Goldingay wrote of Isaiah 9, “The event that has actually happened is the birth of a son to the king, perhaps the birth of Hezekiah to Ahaz. People would look back to his birth as a significant moment, given his greatness as a reformer.” * But Isaiah called the child of promise “Prince of Peace,” a title even good King Hezekiah couldn’t fully live out. How can you more fully follow Jesus, the true Prince of Peace, learning to resolve conflicts his way? Prayer: Lord Jesus, looking to our unknowing human eyes like a powerless rabbi, you were in fact the embodiment of God’s promise of “vast authority and endless peace.” My heart bows before you. Amen. * John Goldingay, Isaiah for Everyone. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015, p. 43. Mary’s child, David’s descendant, God’s son THURSDAY 12.3.20 Luke 1:26-33 Mary was a poor teenager in Nazareth, a village so minor it did not even appear on any map of Palestine from that time. We know of no reason she’d have expected a special life. Gabriel told Mary her son would receive “the throne of David his father” (verse 32). For a devout Hebrew like Mary, that phrase brimmed with meaning. Seeing things human eyes could not, God had chosen her to become the mother trusted to bear the anointed one, the descendant of David all Israel hoped and waited for. • God never forgot the promise to David we read about yesterday. Gabriel told Mary she would bear no ordinary boy: “The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father….there will be no end to his kingdom.” Her son, God’s Messiah (“anointed one”) descended from David and would reign forever. How did the angel’s words cast light on why both Matthew and Luke included genealogies that went back to (and beyond) David in their story of Jesus? • The promise that David’s godly rule would extend forever wasn’t happening in Mary’s day—Rome ruled Israel, after a string of failed kings. But the hope still lived. Scholar John Goldingay noted that we, too, live in hope: “Jesus hasn’t brought about the fulfillment of the entire vision, no more than Hezekiah did, but he was another sign and guarantee that God will bring about its fulfillment, and a more compelling one. He…embodied its message.” * Especially as this hard year nears its end, what helps you keep living in hope for God’s righteous rule? Prayer: Lord Jesus, on so many days I wish that you’d already fully established your kingdom. But your ways are not our ways, and you call me to serve patiently as one of the company of followers who help bring your kingdom to earth. Amen. * John Goldingay, Isaiah for Everyone. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015, p. 44. How “David’s son” showed his kingship FRIDAY 12.4.20 Zechariah 9:9-10, Matthew 21:7-16 Zechariah wrote of Israel’s hope that God would send a faithful heir of David’s royal line to rule forever (cf. 1 Kings 9:3-5). In Israel, donkeys were for kings (e.g. 1 Kings 1:33-44) as well as common people. Matthew cited Zechariah’s words to describe Jesus, a king on a donkey who came in peace, not with the war horses and chariots of a conqueror. People hailed Jesus as the “Son of David,” God’s promise come true at last. • Some who watched Jesus no doubt hoped he would defeat the Roman army and restore Israel’s power. Riding on a donkey made a different claim. “When the chief priests and legal experts saw the amazing things he was doing and the children shouting in the temple, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ they were angry.” They didn’t want a gentle king, a “Son of David” who said to love your enemies. Do you? • Zechariah seemed initially to predict God setting up a new human king (but different) in Jerusalem after Israel’s exile: “This king who arrives is not portrayed as a triumphant figure fresh from military success but as an individual faithful to the covenant….the king is depicted as a humble figure… using a term often used for the poor and needy of society (Ex. 22:25; Job 12:5; 24:4)….Such a figure enters the city not on stately horse or glorious chariot, symbols of military prowess and success, but rather on lowly donkey.” * How does that cast light on why Matthew saw Jesus as the ultimate fulfilment of Zechariah’s prophecy? Prayer: Lord Jesus, I like to think I’d have been aware enough to be like the children shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” This Advent I certainly join in offering you my praise and worship.